here and there are some medallions in the company that are not taken and the drivers not coming so when the heavy rain comes, those uberlift and side car people don't come to work, they don't like the rain they are afraid. the only people who work us. >> these are the taxi cabs fees, downloaded from the sfmta website. we paid thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars in fees, we are struggling, we are dying out here. and the cab business is dying

out here. and if new york and new orleans and all of these other cities can shut them down, why can't we? tmc is just another name for taxi and they do exactly what we do we pick them up and we charge them and we drop them off. please don't get it confused we are not blind, you are not blind, and tnc drivers do not have this. this is what a taxi driver has to have on top of everything else, experience and skills. don't get it confused. the industry is dying, and it is gapsing for its last breath and be regulating an unregulated business, if you regulate us, regulate them exactly the same, no difference. thank you. >> thank you supervisor, mar for having this meeting, we appreciate it very much. >> i am a medallion holder in san francisco and i have been

driving a cab for 24 years. and i am going tell you something now that the taxi industry that the companies will go out of business within a year if you don't stop these people. they are driving around with no... and i seen them living before me with no expenses whatsoever and we have huge expenses. and i am making less than half the money i used to make and now there are 4,000 uber type of cars on the streets and only 2 though taxis so look at the difference, they are making the money and we are not. taxi drivers are quitting in droves to drive for uber, and other companies. when our industry has to survive and it is not going to survive the way that things are going it has gotten worse and worse and the city has turned a blind eye to all of the laws and regulations.

>> thank you. >> >> they claim that they need the pricing to get on friday night and i don't think that is the reason. >> under the normal, rules of business, there would be a point where there is no longer any cabs on the street and you got the business down 50 percent and so, it does not make shens that uber and lift are still putting vehicles on, but the reason that they are putting them on is of course, to maximize the profit and they can maximize the profits only by the surge pricing and it goes with the entire package, and of putting more and more cabs on the street, and they can afford to pay these people, three times and nine times and six times more. than they would order thaterly get.

the number one thing that you have to do is limit the number of vehicles that are allowed to the street, and go from there, thank you very much. >> thank you, sir. >> next speaker? >> hello supervisors my name is jim knight and i am a driver for dosoto cab and so when you get in one of these vehicles, a tnc, there is two drivers, really and the physical driver behind the wheel and the driver that you don't see which is the company culture. the culture is very important. for instance if you get on a golden gate transit bus and i am, impressed of how professionals they are,. they are advertising themselves as a party on wheels for 20

somethings and they have costume and musical instruments, and you know, the drivers rated on their ability to chat up the customers, all of this stuff, kind of mitigates against the safety in my opinion, thank you. >> thank you. >> next speaker. >> frank fahe, taxi man. >> for shame, invest tore ors in this criminal enterprise and if they were not for you they would not exist, i will talk about the billionaires that invest in them, they don't need to charge, they are free because they are put out there by you. to gather data. so ron con ray, and larry page, and you are traders to your country and your city. >> thank you sir. >> next speaker. >> definitely agree with that. >> my name is trevor johnson and i am the technical director for the san francisco cab driver association and we are the ones collecting the license

plate data on the tnc vehicles but i would like to let you guys know that as a dispatcher i can say that with the solid authority of the 30 odd accessible vehicles in the fleet only about 4 to 6 are going on per shift. that is horrendous, that is, very shameful. we have collected over 4,000 plates, over the last six months, and major insurance companies are actually accessing our data to research insurance fraud. start investigating and prosecuting it. and some of the tnc drivers like the guy earlier was saying that you know, we are seeing these guys with multiple phones on the window, we are talking four phones on the window, isn't textsing and driving illegal? do we really need thousands of largely unmarked questionablely insured vehicles on our streets with the drivers focused on their phones and not the road in front of them. >> thank you for the data gathering as well.

>> no problem, i have 2,000 pictures as well. >> great. >> next speaker? >> hello. my name is jacob davis and i guess that i am just a citizen, but i have a deeply motional investment and my friends are cab drivers and you guys pick me up and you are good people and i am a certified nursing assistant from orange county and this is identity to the problem that we had there with a lack of regulation and we had registries and these different, and these different, private companies, that were not licensed bonded or insured sending out people who were not certified to take care of the elderly in their home, and in a company where i am licensed and bonded and insured so if i mess up and get hurt, they are not lieible and i am not lieible the company has it covered, it is so just identical to having these and there is no oversight, you know, there needs to be some type of regulation, of a board and we need an american board of home

care in orange county, but there needs to be an oversight or regulation, because right now, they got run of the streets. >> thank you. >> next speaker. >> greetings, supervisors my name is christopher and thanks for holding this meeting and thanks for keeping things real. this problem arose due to the company's delay in moderizing dispatch, the service gap is filled in an ex-sped ent way, they need the incentive of effective dispatch and there are two keys to this and deployment of the global positioning and the pass orders on and this, new thing and recent business of not passing orders on is like, football, or basketball, without passing the ball and it is like only allowing baseball with those holes in one or golf with, and it is golf with holds in one and baseball with home runs

only, $15 per shift, no i have not done my taxes yet, but i can tell you that in 2012,-weekered 37 days more and i made $37,000 less, and i never made it into the middle class if it exists. >> thank you. >> next speaker. >> good morning, taxi driver, every point has been made and i want to thank, specifically the director for a complete report, and now, i have two issues, one it has not been addressed, yes, crimes have been committed and never spoken about, i had a lady who came into my cab and told me that she had been raped in one of those unmarked black cars and i could not make her go to the police she was too scared and did not want to talk about it. and two young men picked up at a gay bar and taken to a different location where they were beaten, and robbed and they called it a hate crime.

so that is just one issue more, of the public safety than what people understand. also, multiple customers told me that they lose items and never find them there is no lost and found and that is another issue. and the other point that i want to make is okay. technology and progresses, we cannot reinvent the wheel but we can improve the wheel, if we can improve a whole industry, give it to us, sell it to us. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> hi, my name is beth powder and i am a driver and i have a program to make about the ramp cabs and during one of my shifts i knew that there was only one ramp cab in service and there was an hour in which we had over eight orders waiting there is no way that one ramp cab can pick up eight people in one hour.

we are short drivers and we need to take care of our customers. >> my name is au tin peterson and taxi driver 20 years and my income has gone way down and this is the cpuc and is this the same organization that is responsible for the gas line in san bruno in and i think that they have too much on their plate and so that i can them out of the picture. >> thank you. >> next speaker? >> hello my name is rich magoo and i am a driver for yellow cab and i don't understand the political process in this city. for three years now, this has been going on. and these people have just started being basically gypsy cabs and they have just allowed to roam and do whatever they are doing and now we are talking about providing choice for the consumer, and we are

talking about whether or how they should be regulated, the process, there was a procedure, there is a, there is a regime in the city for the issuing of new cabs and that has completely been bypassed >> thank you, sir. >> next speaker? >> good afternoon, chris, ceo of city wide taxi in san francisco, and i have grown up in and around the taxi cab industry for over 30 years and make no mistake, these companies are providing on demand, for hire transportation just like taxi cabs do, and they are using a new technology to facility it for the customer and the service but that does not change the business that they are in. by calling themselves, a new type of transportation, and ignoring the rules of effectively deregulated the taxi cab market and when the companies like these are not

held accountable by the regulations their motivation is going to be at odds with public safety and we are not asking for protection, we are asking for a level playing field and i will take the driving skills and the knowledge of the city streets against any of these drivers any day in the level playing field, thank you. >> thank you. >> if there is anyone else that would like to speak that has not been called you can come forward but we are trying to wrap this hearing up, sir? >> my name is michael maddox but we are talking about the safety of san francisco and i like san francisco to adopt certain standards that is already in place, one being i am sorry, the vehicle code of california 260. and which states that a commercial vehicle is a motor vehicle for hire. and those vehicles have to be commercially registered with the dmv as well as cover with commercial insurance. >> and that should be something that should be in the law within san francisco as well. the second thing that i would

like to do is have san francisco permit each driver that wants to drive through these companies. to insure that we are making sure ha they have the commercial vehicle. they have the commercial and everything that is checked out each year or whatever, and or whatever sequence. and other than that that, they should not be operating as of right now because they are providing a commercial service and by the federal law, the government states that any vehicle that is by time, is a vehicle that is a taxi cab. >> thank you so much, mr. maddox. >> thank you. >> and i should let everyone know that we are join, or we have been joined by supervisor john avalos and supervisor campos has been excused and supervisor kim is replacing him on this committee. >> next speaker? >> good afternoon, my name is

paul goodfader and i was one of the first ramp drivers in san francisco in 1994 before i got certified i drove 4 and a half months young lady that was up here earlier, i understand exactly where she is coming from, i went 4 and a half months driving 6 days a week, eleven hours, sometimes 12 just picking up people that were not only just in wheelchairs, but they were disabled. the point being is, the disabled no matter who you are, everybody has a disability. there is no discrimination in this person right here. i take my job very seriously, and you should do the same, get rid of those guys they are taking money out of my pocket, i lost 60 percent in the last ten years because of these guys. i won't stand for that, thank you. >> thank you.

>> >> good afternoon, my name is ernistenand i strongly object to all of these pink mustaches and gypsy cabs around the city untamed and unregulated and they are destroying the wonderful taxi industry, my cousins were taxi drivers in new york and they had no education, but they could make a good living, when they came to this country by driving a cab. and working in the garment center in the off seasons. and so, their medallions cost them thousands of dollars and that is eroded and no one will buy them with all of this going on, and so shut them down and be tough and discipline. >> thank you. >> they have a business model

based on it is dangerous but it is also based on deceit. and i would like to address this idea of casual labor, this used to be a labor town and here we have something that is replacing full time bread winners with part time workers. that are supplementing their income from another source. and the issue of worker's comp, when they are injured, who pays? who is going to pay for all of this? >> the public is going to pay. and another, and an important question is, do these companies exist solely for the purpose of the ipo? if they follow the pattern of these otherwise, i think so. and do you really want to lose an industry, you see how great all of these people are and it is a great industry, do you want to lose that. is this just the idea or these companies will shut down and they are not sustainable. >> thank you so much. >> thank you.

>> we have another card, ray sloan, please come forward, next speaker? >> jeffrey rosen, vice president of san francisco cab driver association 20 year cab driver, these companies, are guied in a deceitful manner and they are operating in the same manner, and our group is sphere headed the collection of data over 4,000 license plates and, that is just a sample, and we don't know how many are out there but there are thousands and thousands, approximately 1900 cabs only. and and we are talking about the liability insurance background checks and vehicle inspection and they are operating without any proper commercial liability. if i work in a store and no one is in the store does that mean that i am not covered in the insurance? it is the same thing as being in the transportation service

and the price, surging, i mean, pardon me, and they have neighborhoods that are changing from hour it hour as far as costs. and they are discriminating against the public, this is a public safety, issue, and >> it has. >> and let me just finish by saying. >> wrap up quickly. >> taxi cab transportation service it is your duty as regulators. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> high my name is bary corn gold and i have been driving a cab in the city for over 25 years and this is not a new industry, it is a new technology at one time taxi cabs used to line up at taxi stands and there will be one stand and they will get up and do the call and this taxi industry has been around hundreds of years. california government code requires cities and counties to regulate this taxi service.

and we all need to be regulated equally in this violation of the equal protection clauses in the u.s. and in the california cons constitutions to do otherwise and we were active participants in the proceeding and it was not done in the fair way, they opened the flood gates and allowed them to operate without inadequate insurance and they had an excess insurance policy that relies on the personal insurance coverage first and the personal insurance federation in california stated that the puc proceedings that personal insurance does not cover vehicles operating as gnc and yet they allowed them to operate. please take the responsibility and regulate them as us and we are all taxi cabs. >> next speaker? >> peter whit, yellow cab, and 26 years, and native san franciscan and i would refer

these lettered e-mails to the board of supervisors, and five, as far as taxi safety is concerned, and i would also, as far as hard data, and taxi service is concerned, would i also submit, this survey that i have done this year and i have also 15 years previously and one in each and every year, and consist of 1,000 customers. and with a 90 over 90 percent return rate and when it comes to taxi, excuse me, limousine enforcement, and i would like a show of hands of cpu c does not regulate... and that is obvious, and when you look at a hotel, and a door man and a limousine that stands out front and i would like to city a show of hands that drivers regular that realize that they are not regulated in front of hotels so when it comes to the non-technology, and taxi, and excuse me,

non-technology network companies. because they are not... >> thank you. >> they are not technical they are transportation. >> that is the name. >> thank you very much. >> ray sloan, i was one of the founders of the ride share association with the shuttle companies that shuttle people to and from td hotels and the neighborhoods. we have formed the ride share association in 1993 to protect the interests of the drivers, which are or were at the time were 300 and now are 400. and going to and from the airport and there is a highly regulated industry. and the uber cabs have had affected it to the ex-at the present time of about 30 percent, fall off and some, some believe as high as 40 percent and they now hold

control over the internet and if you google, ride share to the airport, they are the ones that show up the uber cabs show up and not the traditional ride share shuttle companies. and that founded this, and pushed this business, and it needs to be, it needs to be regulated and something needs to be done, thank you. >> thank you, mr. sloan, next speaker? >> hi, my name is avy langer and i have been a taxi cab driver off and on since 2006 here in san francisco. and the few issues that i kind of wanted to raise or bring up, starting salary for muni bus cleaners and parking enforcement and muni pavement is close to $50,000 in benefit and that is starting salary, a full time taxi cab driver working 45 to 60 hours a week can make that much, does the driver want a raise in benefits? yes. how is it possible when anyone

can drive and make dollars on the street? the city needs to protect the long term interests by keeping the limit on the amount of money making vehicles on its streets, in 1988 i got cited for selling carpets off i fence for conducting unlicensed business and today there is a parking lot there, if i showed shots of booze for a buck or two what would happen? would the city later issue license to under selling bars, at license to sell alcohol? someone should write a book about the evolution of transportation for higher business in northern california and the usa. >> thank you. >> next speaker. >> if there is anyone else that would like to speak, we are going to close this hearing in a few minutes, next speaker? >> good afternoon, sir, it is me again and i did not have enough time. >> we can't let you speak again. >> i am sorry. >> but, our office will be available if you want to give your testimony to our office. >> next speaker.

>> my name is andrew mathia and i am a cab driver in san francisco and i would like to say that in my lifetime tabies have been regulated by the bodies, the regulations in place have been fought out over decades and the tncs come in and start to operate illegally, and are ordered to stop, and now they are just allowed to continue on with their business model which is basically dangerous to people. taxi cabs are limited in number in san francisco because they are a limited number of passengers we don't issue the permits based on how busy it is, we base it on how slow it is. if it is more often slow than it is busy. and when you allow these companies whose only interest is making money because they make money off of the number of people so they put on the streets, their incentive and to put more and more vehicles on the streets so they can make more money and it is not safe because the drivers have to live and make a living and so they are encouraged to drive

faster, uber and lift business model encourages them to drive unsafely. >> thank you very much. >> thank you. >> hi. >> my name is katherine baker and i have been a cab driver since 1974 when i graduated from the university. and i make these days, less than i did when i started. and it is because of this unfair competition. so, i think that something should be done and i hope that you hear what people are saying to you and take you know get rid of these guys who are so illegal, and unsafe. and their pink mustaches tell me if i am wrong they were created by the mayor to give us his daughter a job so she regulated that? is there any truth to that? >> i don't think that is true. >> the mayor does not have anything to do the pink mustaches or his daughter?

>> no? >> i don't think that that is true, ma'am. >> okay. >> next speaker? >> thank you. >> i have been driving the taxi for the last six years and i would like to also cpu c what kind of this shedding is it, and the drivers that call, and they are down reaching it and (inaudible) from me and more over, (inaudible) if we taxi drivers go to (inaudible) pick up a customer, we have been... they can pick them from anywhere in the area and remote anywhere and so in that case, also, (inaudible) customers too much and because of all of these things and illegal things.

(inaudible). >> thank you, sir. >> is there anyone else that would like to speak that has not spoken yet? no, you already spoke. >> we are going to close the public comment and let me, or before i close the public comment, let me withdraw that without objection? is there anyone from uber lift, or their representatives from the so-called tncs that we invited several times to this hearing, i am going to give them an opportunity for them to speak is there anyone here that would like to speak? >> then i see none, so let me say that we are going to close public comment. >> thank you. >> colleagues, i know that there may be a couple of other closing comments, but let me be brief. it has been a great learning experience, thank you so much to the drivers and the companies and the disabled advocates and the pedestrian safety and the other advocates that have come out today and this hearing has been focused on insurancing the public's safety and insurancing access, and looking at a new wild west

of an industry that is sprouted up without adequate state regulation, and then definitely not enough attention from our local government. and i wanted to say that and i wanted to thank, sophie lou's family for being here mr. dolan and my intent following up with this hearing as a first step is to look at working with some of my colleagues, and stake holders that have been here to draft a board of supervisors resolution, coming up detailing the shortcomings of the policy and making strong suggestions that as we work with the state's puc to fix those gaps, and to address the unfair playing field that currently exists that many have brought up, the issues of discrimination and especially for the disabled community and other issues, and i know that we have look at it with our attorneys and the disabled community as well and i also intend to work with our budget and legislative analyst office

to look at the economic harm of a new industry, and look at how we as a city address the economics of this new industry, and i am not even going to call it tncs as many suggested, and start to look to a more appropriate term of a new private sector that is unregulated currently, and as others said really is a potential threat to the safety on the streets, and lastly, as i stated at the beginning of this hearing, we locally, in san francisco, we have a responsibility to avoid the preventable tragedies like the death of sophie lou and i look forward to working with all of you as we move forward not only with the vision zero but also the stated goals of protecting our public and the safety of our residents. colleagues are there any other comments? >> supervisor yee? >> so, supervisor mar, thank you, for bringing this here and in front of this committee, and i am in not,